Page 121 of Steel

The safe beeps with each number she puts in, and I watch her face keenly to see if she recognizes them for what else they could mean besides what she’s assuming.

“Emmy Lou’s wedding date, huh?” she asks in a voice void of any emotion, not looking at me.

Fuck. Of course, that’s the first place her stubborn mind goes to.

“Look at me,” I bark.

Bailee keeps her eyes on the safe, terrified to let me see the pain on her face. I don’t have to be in front of her to feel the hurt roiling inside her. It screams at me across the line, begging for relief.

My fist clenches against my thigh, fighting the need to sling my leg over my bike and rush to her. “I said fuckin’ look at me.”

This time, her tormented eyes find mine through the screen.

“What else happened on that day, Lee?” She just stares at me, so I repeat my question, softening my voice. “What else happened?”

“It was the first time we were together.”

“Most beautiful fuckin’ person I’d ever seen.”

Bailee snorts. “Em was beautiful.”

“She was,” I agree, “but you were fuckin’ ethereal, Hummingbird. Stole my fuckin’ breath, and that shit’s not been right since. That code is ‘cause of you, baby girl, not some other woman.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, lowering her eyes back to the safe.

“Don’t. It’s my fuck-up. Didn’t think you’d assume anything different. Should have.”

Bailee blows out a breath and gives me a shaky smile. “So, what am I getting in here for?”

“Gun.”

She sucks in a sharp breath but nods.

“Where’s Lyric?” I ask.

“Bath. She was quiet and withdrawn at first. It took me a while, but I was able to have her smiling again. We painted nails,and I braided her hair.” Bailee’s eyes fill with sadness. “I listened as she told me what happened. She broke my heart, Steel.”

“Yeah,” I say, agreeing with her. “Gun, Hummingbird.”

I steer us back on track when a text comes through from Ronin asking where I am.

“Right.”

She sits the phone down, resting it against the leg of the desk so I’m able to see everything she’s doing.

“Know how to use that?” I ask when she pulls the gun out.

“I know how. Reed made sure because of me going off all the time on my own. I just never liked carrying one.”

Explains why she didn’t have one on her the day she ran into Killer.

“Show me,” I order, needing to be sure.

Once I’m satisfied, I go over the security system with her. How to arm and disarm it, where she can find the camera feed, all that shit. But my protective instincts still claw at me, refusing to be settled.

“Lee, gonna have Em come sit with you for added protection,” I tell her. She grinds her jaw, wanting to argue. “Need you two protected. The more eyes, the more protection. She does this shit for a livin’, Lee.”

Bailee closes her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again and giving me a soft smile. “Okay.”

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